Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Alternative Media Spotlight 3

Alternative Media Spotlight 3

It's time for a long overdue installment of Alternative media spotlight a guide to some of the sites you should be following.

Andre Vltchek is one of the greatest writers to use his work to battle imperialism. He is also a courageous journalist who constantly travels the world risking his life in dangerous war zones in order to bring the empires crimes to light. From DRCongo to Syria, Lebanon, Ukraine, Iraq He is constantly on the move bringing the horrors and misery of the world to light. His work also exposes the cultural sterility, greed and misery capitalism brings both to the west and to those trapped in it's neo-colonial grip like South Korea and Indonesia. He also brings tales of hope from people all over the planet resisting imperialism in places like Venezuela, Russia, Cuba, North Korea, China, and Iran. He's a film maker, a novelist, a philosopher, an investigative journalist in other words a genius. His work is published around the internet so I suggest you follow his website which is packed with articles, interviews, and his beautiful photographs. He is also a prolific author his latest book is "Exposing the Lies of Empire."

http://andrevltchek.weebly.com

The Venezuelan Bolivarian Revolution provides one of the few rays of hope in this dark time of endless war and unfettered capitalism. It has been under threat since the moment Hugo Chavez took power indeed long before as officially hundreds and probably thousands were killed by prior governments which assassinated revolutionaries and brutally suppressed the 1989 Caracazo uprising in a futile attempt to maintain the status qou. However not since the failed coup against Chavez has the Bolivarian revolution been under such threat. Indeed all of latin America is in deadly danger of a return to neo-liberal fascism of the sort that has killed hundreds of thousands throughout the continent. Thus it is vital that everyone keep a close eye on events in Venezuela where the opposition have gained a majority in the national assembly. The definitive english language site on Venezuela is Venezuelanalysis. It contains news, analysis, and translations from a wide variety of perspectives sympathetic to the Bolivarian Revolution.

http://venezuelanalysis.com

Eva Bartlett is one of my heroes. She did not begin as a journalist but as an activist. She went to Palestine to discover the truth about the Israeli occupation herself and was so shocked by the brutal reality that she became a journalist in order to help bring this reality to the worlds attention. Her work hoped to allow Palestinians to explain the outside world what it is like to live in a constant state of siege. Heart breaking stories of everyday tragedy fisherman, farmers, children under constant attack. Eventually the Zionist Entity as she prefers to call it banned her from returning. She next decided to discover for herself what was actually going on in Syria. Currently most of her work is focused on covering the war on Syria. She brings the war as Syrians see and experience it a heartbreaking and inspiring story. Sadly I was late to discover her work but from the moment I read her account of the hellish siege of Fou and Karfaya I became a loyal reader. She also does excellent interviews and lectures. And she has just begun writing a book on Syria that will provide an Oral History of the war by Syrians themselves that I'm extremely excited for. She also compiles excellent articles debunking the mainstream narrative on Syria compiling the work of others who have done excellent work on Syria like Sharmine Narwani, Tim Anderson, Corey Morningstar and Vanessa Beeley. Her site is called In Gaza.

https://ingaza.wordpress.com

And she recently set up a page where you can find an archive of all her work on Syria

Sukant Chandan is an inspiration he has been battling imperialism and battling for the rights of immigrants for 20 years. Freeing ones mind from imperialist conditioning is the first step towards liberation and Sukant Chandan with his daring and creativity is always in the vanguard of this struggle. He seeks to unite all the people's of the third and fourth worlds against imperialism. The fourth world are the third world peoples who live in the the so called 1st world. He constantly tries to teach people that all our struggles are interconnected. Who else would think to connect Ferguson and North Korea, Malcolm X with Ho Chi Minh, The Easter uprising and the Mao's revolution. I first discovered his work during NATO's war on Libya. Sukant was one of the few who dared to challenge the lies and expose this so called "revolution" as being composed of Al Qaeda death squads. He actually travelled to Libya during NATO's war to expose the truth. Later I rediscovered his work thru his Tri-Continental Congress You Tube Channel which put on fascinating conferences with other great anti-imperialists like Hafsa Kara, Carlos Martinez, Asari Sobukwe, and Minka Adofu. Great presentations on topics like Libya, and Venezuela. Then as if that wasn't enough he also launched the Malcolm X Movement which put on even more great events. He has helped expose me to radical scholars like Hakim Adi, Dan Glazebrook and Marika Sherwood. He also makes frequent appearances on RT and Press TV where he has been known to utterly demolish his opponents in Debates. He also writes great Anti-Imperialist articles. Unfortunately I don't know how to post links to you tube channels so You'll have to search his 3 channels for yourself. They are sons of Malcolm Tv, Tri-Continental, and Malcolm X Movement. His Blog is Sons Of Malcolm

http://sonsofmalcolm.blogspot.com

Here is a presentation on Libya from the Tri Continental

http://youtu.be/zKQJWXcBMhI

Next up I recommend you check out my friend @arrghshell 's blog / Podcast. Although her podcast is still relatively new she started off with a bang by doing an explosive expose on the role of the military in the sex trafficking industry. Some people have begun to talk about the empire of bases the US military have built around the planet. @arrghshell however exposes a danger few consider. In order to provide "entertainment" Millions of women have been forced into sexual slavery over the decades. Most military bases are closely connected to local organized crime and shocking even to me American Military police are used to hunt down escaped sex workers and return them to their brothels. In addition women from this empire of brothels are then sold into slavery in the united states itself often brought into the country thru sham marriages with american soldiers. In a fascinating connection to my own work on US collaboration with with Fascists even before the end of world war 2 @arrghshell explains how the United States adopted wholesale the infamous system of Japanese "comfort women" the only difference being that the American occupation has never ended and all this continues today and is doubtless mirrored around every military base foreign and domestic. She also writes a fascinating blog always original on Imperialism, Media, politics, alt-media and a bunch of topics. Her Blog/Podcast is called Kariflack

http://n0p3.net

And Here are links to the first 3 episodes on the Military and Sex Trafficking.

Carlos Martinez is another amazing Anti-Imperialist writer and speaker. He writes wonderful articles on the history of revolutionary movements. For example he wrote about the role of revolutionary freedom fighter Chris Hani in the fall of apartheid in South Africa. He wrote wonderful introductions to the work of Assata Shakur, and Huey Newton with long excerpts from their books. He also provides great introductions and excerpts to the thought of Revolutionaries like Samora Michel, Maurice Bishop, and Amilcar Cabral. Other favorites are his inspiring articles on the Vietnam War and the Life of Ho Chi Minh. However he doesn't just attempt to resurrect the revolutionary past he also does excellent work battling imperialism in the present. He writes in defense of Palestine, Syria, Venezuela, North Korea and many other places resisting imperialism. Hugo Chavez Revolutionary Internationalist was one of my favorite pieces praising Chavez's role as an ally of anti-imperialist resistance not just in Latin America but around the world forming alliances with Libya, Iraq, Iran, Syria, China, South Africa Russia. He also gives great speeches many of which can be found on Chandan's Tricontinental channel. You can find Martinez's writings at his blog Invent the Future

Vanessa Beeley's The Wall Will Fall is another great site for information on the wars in Iraq Syria, Palestine, and Yemen. She has many contacts in these war zones who send her vivid first hand accounts of the wars which she translates and posts on her websites providing a fascination and horrifying picture of what these wars are really like. I'll never forget the description of the looting of Aleppo for instance. She also does excellent journalistic work both on these wars and on the "humanitarian" NGO's that produce a steady stream of propaganda. For example she wrote a great expose on the "White Helmets" who masquerade as rescue workers while working to provide propaganda for the terrorist death squads who are ravaging the country. Check out her blog for a wealth of information on the wars in the middle east.

https://thewallwillfall.wordpress.com

There are more great sites I should discuss but unfortunately they will have to wait for the next Alternative Media Spotlight. Here are the two previous ones

Thanks to @RedKahina for the suggestion follow her brilliant work on twitter about Imperialism, Culture and Media. The specter haunting twitter. The intellectual surgeon. She'll explain whose work not to follow.